Results from a large clinical trial in the United States and South America indicate that AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, AZD1222, is well-tolerated and protects against symptomatic COVID-19 disease, including severe disease or hospitalization. The independent Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) overseeing the trial identified no safety concerns related to the vaccine. The United Kingdom-based global…
The lightning speed with which scientists developed and tested the COVID-19 vaccine is a true scientific triumph — one that would not have been possible without the more than 70,000 volunteers who participated in clinical trials of the vaccine. Public participation is critical to the success of any medical research. Yet recruiting volunteers for trials…
While some youth experiment with marijuana but don’t go on to long-term use, others develop a problematic pot habit that continues into adulthood. A major new analysis shows that at least a small portion of the risk for developing into an adult marijuana user may be related to inherited behaviors and traits that appear during…
More than 50 scientific experts from across the United States, including virologists, infectious disease specialists and medical doctors, are launching a series of virtual town halls to answer the public’s questions about the COVID-19 vaccines. The effort aims to bring factual, scientific information to people across the country, particularly communities of color that have been…
A considerably higher dose of the anti-tuberculosis drug rifampicin is safe and can also lead to a shorter treatment for tuberculosis and less resistance. This is what researchers from Radboud university medical center in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, write in a recent publication. With this they complete a year-long search for the right dosing of an…
Scientists from MIPT and ITMO University and their colleagues have studied the formation and growth of crystals from simple organic molecules into large associations. These experiments will help create capsules for targeted drug delivery to specific tissues in the human body. The scientific paper was published in the journal Crystal Growth & Design. Melamine cyanurate…
COLUMBUS, Ohio – As psychedelics gain ground as a potential therapy for mental health disorders, there remains a pressing concern that patients in clinical trials may have adverse effects to the drugs. New research identifies personality traits that have been associated with positive and negative experiences on psychedelics in previous studies, information that could help…
The COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium (CCC19) published new findings in the Annals of Oncology, showing heightened mortality and racial disparities for patients with cancer diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection. After reviewing detailed information from almost 5,000 patients with active or past cancer and laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis, CCC19 study authors found associations among laboratory measures, clinical factors…
Researchers at the DZNE (Germany), at Massachusetts General Hospital (USA) and at the genomic medicine company Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc. tested a novel gene regulation approach to treat brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s in laboratory studies. It leverages zinc finger proteins, which specifically bind to the DNA that codes for the protein Tau without altering it,…
Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is a disease of the stem cells in the bone marrow, which disturbs the maturing and differentiation of blood cells. Annually, some 200 Finns are diagnosed with MDS, which can develop into acute leukaemia. Globally, the incidence of MDS is 4 cases per 100,000 person years. To diagnose MDS, a bone marrow…